Benzinga | Sep 9, 2021 09:20AM EDT

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Premieres Taboo on Crackle

Second Major Series from Acquired Sonar Library Premieres on Crackle



From the Creator of 'Peaky Blinders' and Starring Tom Hardy,

'Taboo' Will Debut on Crackle as an AVOD Exclusive

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:CSSE), one of the largest operators of streaming advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) networks, today announced that all eight episodes of season one of the Emmy-nominated gritty, period drama series Taboo will be exclusively available for free on Crackle beginning Wednesday, September 15th.

Taboo is one of the many series acquired from Sonar Entertainment by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. This is the second series that will premiere on Crackle from the Sonar library. The first was The Temptations, which quickly shot to the #1 series on the network.

"We are quickly integrating the Sonar library content into our Crackle Plus offerings and are finding that they are performing exceptionally well with our viewers," said Philippe Guelton, President of Crackle Plus. "We plan to continue to highlight other Sonar series and films over the coming months."

Set in the year 1814, Taboo follows James Keziah Delaney (Tom Hardy), a man who has been to the ends of the earth and comes back irrevocably changed. Believed to be long dead, he returns home to London from Africa to inherit what is left of his father's shipping empire and rebuild a life for himself. But his father's legacy is a poisoned chalice, and with enemies lurking in every corner, James must navigate increasingly complex territories to avoid his own death sentence. Encircled by conspiracy, murder and betrayal, a dark family mystery unfolds in a combustible tale of love and treachery.

Created by Steven Knight (Locke, Peaky Blinders), Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road, Venom, Peaky Blinders) and his father, Edward "Chips" Hardy, the eight-part mysterious and dark drama is based on a story written by Tom Hardy and Chips Hardy. Led by Tom Hardy, Taboo boasts an all-star ensemble cast that includes Jessie Buckley (Chernobyl, Fargo), Oona Chaplin (Game of Thrones, Black Mirror), Stephen Graham (The Irishman, Greyhound), Tom Hollander (Bohemian Rhapsody, The Night Manager), Michael Kelly (The Comey Rule, Jack Ryan), Franka Potente (Bourne Supremacy, American Horror Story: Asylum), and Jonathan Pryce (Game of Thrones, upcoming The Crown).

Taboo garnered two Emmy nominations in 2017 for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series for composer Max Richter (Ad Astra, Black Mirror), and Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role. The series is executive produced by Ridley Scott and Kate Crowe for Scott Free, Tom Hardy and Dean Baker for Hardy Son & Baker, and Steven Knight, with Timothy Bricknell producing.

As one of the only AVODs continually adding original and exclusive programming that uplifts, entertains, and inspires audiences, Crackle adds Taboo alongside original and AVOD exclusive titles including PROMISELAND, The Machine, Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story, Cagefighter, After the Murder of Albert Lima, Lennox Lewis: The Untold Story, Insomnia, The Clearing, Anything is Possible: The Serge Ibaka Story, Bucket List, and the award-winning Going From Broke, which recently premiered its second season.

Taboo is distributed in North America by Screen Media, a Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. company and the supplier of exclusive and original content to Crackle Plus.

The Crackle Plus networks are currently distributed through 50 touch points in the U.S., with announced plans to expand to over 64 touch points including Amazon FireTV, RokuTV, Apple TV, Smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Vizio), gaming consoles (PS4 and XBoxOne), Plex, iOS and Android mobile devices and on desktops at Crackle.com. Crackle is also available in approximately 500,000 hotel rooms in the Marriott Bonvoy chain.